By REBECCA LURYE
The Bluffton Police Department
suspended two officers Thursday after one of them was charged with felony
assault in connection with a Tybee Island, Ga., bar fight, according to a news
release.
Officers Henry Criss, charged
with aggravated assault and battery, and Lindsey Marion were suspended without
pay, pending an internal investigation, the release said. Both officers were at
Doc's Bar at about 11:30 p.m. Wednesday when Criss pulled a gun on another
patron, according to a Tybee Police Department report.
Criss, 33, had reportedly been
arguing with the man when he pulled out his personal weapon and held it to the
man's cheek, cutting his face. He and Marion, his girlfriend, then left the
bar, the report said.
A bar employee also witnessed
the incident, the report said.
Officers arrested Criss after
they spotted him walking a few blocks away, the report said. They found his
handgun under a white Chevy Silverado parked down the street from the bar.
Both men were "highly
intoxicated" following the incident, the report said. The victim was
transported by EMS to Memorial University Medical Center in Savannah.
Tybee police contacted the
suspect's supervisors and went with the Bluffton officers to interview Marion
at the hotel where she and Criss were staying.
Marion told the Tybee officers
she tried to break up an argument between Criss and the other patron, but
denied seeing a gun at the bar.
Criss' service weapon was in a
bag in the hotel room, the report said.
In the release, Bluffton Police
Chief Joey Reynolds said the department holds officers to high standards, on
and off duty.
"This incident, which
saddens and disappoints me, is a severe violation of the department's
standards," Reynolds said. "Even though officers are human, society
holds them to a higher standard, and we have to hold ourselves accountable to
that standard."
Attempts to reach Marion, who
has been with department since May 2008, through her work email were
unsuccessful.
Criss, who has been with the
department since August 2011, was being held Thursday at the Chatham County
jail pending a bond hearing.
John Geer
